Checked himself out of a mental-health facility hours before killing five family members.

The last bullet was the one he used on himself.

Mark Storm

Chalk this one up to the troubled outpatient treatment file. On March 7, 1997, Mark Storm checked himself out of a psychiatric ward in Wheeling, West Virginia, and proceeded to blow away five family members and himself.

Storm, a riverboat pilot on leave from his job, checked into the Ohio Valley Medical Center the Sunday before the killings complaining of stress and panic disorder.

Four days later, he checked out of the facility after making plans for a follow-up visit. That afternoon Mark talked on the telephone with his brother and mother who were concerned about his well being and wanted him committed. Then he went with his family to a party for a neighbor's daughter. According to the party's host, Storm -- who was taking three different types of medication -- seemed "stressed-out" and left after only half an hour.

Back home that night Marky went blood simple. Police said Storm first killed his wife, Betty, 26, in the living room, then shot his two daughters, Jessica, 8, and Megan, 3, as they lay in their bunk beds.

He then drove about 2 miles to his mother's house where he shot his brother, Benjamin Storm, 32, and their 59-year-old mother, Roberta Nyles.

Then he went to his favorite childhood fishing spot on the Ohio River and shot himself in the head with the last bullet in his 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol. In the trunk of his car, police found a load of Girl Scout cookies awaiting delivery by his older daughter.

Mayhem.net

Mental patient kills 5, then self

San Jose Mercury News

March 7, 1997

A man checked himself out of a mental-health facility hours before killing five family members and himself, police said early today.

Mark Storm, who attended a birthday party at a neighbor's house earlier Thursday, shot his daughters -- Jessica, 6, and Megan, 3 -- and his wife Betty at the family's home, then drove about 2 1/2 miles to his brother's house, where he shot Benjamin Storm and their mother Roberta Myles, police said.

Hours after checking out of a psychiatric ward, a riverboat pilot shot five family members to death, then killed himself with his last bullet at his favorite childhood fishing spot.

Mark Storm, 30, left the Ohio Valley Medical Center on Thursday, making plans for a follow-up visit, then went with his family to a party for a neighbor's daughter.

Man who killed family saved shot for himself

San Jose Mercury News

March 8, 1997

''It looks like he was intent on killing himself. The last bullet was the one he used on himself,'' Wheeling, W. Va., Chief of Police Ed Long said Friday of the riverboat pilot who killed five family members and then turned the gun on himself at his favorite childhood fishing spot.

Mark Storm, 30, left the Ohio Valley Medical Center on Thursday, making plans for a follow-up visit, then went with his family to a party for a neighbor's daughter. Later, he shot his wife, their two young daughters, his brother in the head with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, Police Chief Ed Long said.

Mental patient kills family, self

The Arizona Republic

March 8, 1997

Hours after checking out of a psychiatric ward, a man shot five family members to death, then killed himself with his last bullet at his favorite childhood fishing spot.

Mark Storm, 30, a riverboat pilot, left the Ohio Valley Medical Center on Thursday, making plans for a follow-up visit, then went with his family to a party for a neighbor's daughter.

Man leaves mental clinic, kills 5 family members, self

A man who suffered from stress went on a killing spree hours after checking out of a mental-health clinic, shooting his wife and two daughters, then driving across town to kill his brother and mother before committing suicide, police said today.

All six died from gunshots to the head.

Mark Storm, 30, "seemed to be stressed out and quiet" at a birthday party before the shootings Thursday night, said James Gallaher, a neighbor and the host of the party.

"We're grieving. They're our good buddies," Gallaher said this morning.

Police believe Storm, a riverboat pilot from Wheeling who was on leave, used a 9mm handgun to shoot his wife, Betty, 26, then killed his daughters -- Jessica, 8, and Megan, 3 -- as they lay in their bunk beds.

He then drove about 2 1/2 miles to his brother's house, where he shot Benjamin Storm, 32, and their 59-year-old mother, Roberta Myles, Police Chief Ed Long said.

He shot himself outside his brother's home on an island in the Ohio River 50 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. Police pulled Storm's body from the water at the same spot he fished at as a child, friends said.

"It looks like he was intent on killing himself. The last bullet was the one he used on himself," Long said. The weapon was bought last June at a local gun shop.

Police had no motive for the shootings. They also did not know why Storm was being treated at the Hillcrest Behavioral Health Services at Ohio Valley Medical Center, although Long said Storm suffered from stress. He had checked in Saturday and signed himself out Thursday morning, Gallaher told police.

Storm, his wife and daughters attended the party until about 7:40 p.m. After the family went home, Gallaher noticed Storm's car was no longer parked in front of the house.

"He tried to call the Storm house and got no answer," said Lt. Michael Whalen. "So, he walked over to check the house, and when he opened the front door, he saw Betty Storm lying on the living room floor in a pool of blood."

When Gallaher called police around 9:30 p.m., they were already responding to a call at Benjamin Storm's home on Wheeling Island.

Jeanine Wiselka, a neighbor of Benjamin Storm's, said his girlfriend ran from the house yelling for someone to call police and then said, "He's got a gun!"

Wiselka said she then heard two shots being fired in the home.

Police found Benjamin Storm's body on the floor. Mrs. Myles, who used a wheelchair, was found in an upstairs bedroom and taken to a hospital, where she later died.